Pool Time!

A little over a month ago, we started building a pool.

On day 1, Avery woke up early to the sound of the bob cat and came downstairs. I found her with her face plastered against the backdoor... Avery was very concerned and wanted to call her daddy to tell him what those "mans" were doing in her backyard (Notice the nails... what a priss!):

Don't get me wrong, when I saw what she did, I was a little concerned too:

Thankfully construction is now complete, and the we've been able to swim the last two weekends!

Avery & her daddy:

Anna splashing away:

Um, this is the life...

Here's hoping for more hot weather... Seriously, did I just wish for that!!??

9 Months In... 9 Months Out

I know I say it every time you turn a month older, but I cannot believe you are 9 months old!

Here are your stats:
21 lbs – 75^th Percentile
28.5’’ – 75^th Percentile

...and here's what you're up to:

- You are becoming very curious about your surroundings:

Who is this crazy bear that mommy always makes me take a picture with!!??


- Your little personality is starting to show... you have lots of funny faces!


- You are crawling! Well, traditionally anyway… you have been very mobile for a couple of months now. You would roll, scootch, strrreeetch and army crawl (if you absolutely had to) to get where you wanted to go, but now you are faster! Your sister is not pleased that you can get to all of her toys very easily now.

- You are just starting to pull up (as in you've done it once!).

- You are starting to respond to music and “dance” (which makes your mama very happy :)).

- You still love to jump... in your jumperoo, your exersaucer, or in someone's arms!

- You still like to do the splits:


... and show off your flexibility:


- We often catch you sleeping in funky positions!


- You are a rock star with your solid foods! We give you whatever we are eating for dinner, so you have had just about everything! Last week, you ate WAY more broccoli than your sister did. Hopefully you’ll continue to be a good little eater!

- You still have 3 teeth, but we can see one that is just about to break through on the bottom and FOUR more are coming in on top.

- You still think your sister is the coolest. She can always make you smile, command your attention and keep you happy!

Happy 9 Month Birthday! We love you Anna!

Labor Day Weekend

We headed to Lost Pines (aka - little kid Heaven!) for a family vacation with The Alman Family. On the way, we made a stop in DQ Country so that Avery could experience her first blizzard:

That evening the girls were fired up (pun intended!) to roast some smores! Clearly I'm still perfecting the night portrait setting on my camera. I promise Avery's hair is not about to catch on fire:

Eating her first Smore:

The next morning, we ventured outside to check out the hummingbird garden. Avery, Isabelle & Eliza:

Anna was enjoying the view as well:

Since it was still a little rainy, we headed indoors to the activity room to color and play board games. The girls loved playing "Guess Who"... Guess who's getting that game for Christmas!!??

Checkers... hopscotch... whatever:

And way too much fun was had running down the hallways:


The rain stopped, so we decided to go visit the longhorns! Avery is sitting on T-Bone:

Insert baby sister:

Time to play soccer... in our flip flops.


There were endless activities for the kids to do... making wind chimes:

Watercolor art:

Riding tricycles:

... and of course... the POOL!! Daddy & his girls:

Avery spent a LOT of time on the big slide... and, of course, she insisted on sliding by herself:




Anna & I hung out in the lazy river. I spent the majority of my time trying to keep Anna from eating all of the leaves that were in the water... The girl could seriously spot them from a mile away:

Smores & brownies every night... good times:

Horseshoes with Daddy:

And Eliza:

Awww... best friends already!

One of the highlights of the trip... the pony ride. When Avery realized that this nice lady was going to be walking next to her throughout the pony ride, Avery looked at her and politely said, "I don't need any help."


What an awesome trip. We were all sad when we had to leave, and we are all ready to go back!

Baptism Weekend

Last Sunday, our girls got baptized! Avery was very nervous about the event - she kept asking me if she was going to get any 'pokes' (shots). Love that she confused the preacher with a doctor! Avery suggested that Anna go first, and luckily Anna agreed. :) Both girls did great, and we look forward to them growing in the faith. Thank you to our grandparents for celebrating this special occasion with us:


Avery was veerrrrry excited that Aunt Lindsay came too:


And one more cutie picture from the weekend. Anna loves her BPaw!

The Aquarium

Since it's still approximately the temperature of hell outside and our pool is not finished, we decided to head downtown to The Aquarium for some indoor fun! Avery loved the fish, and we even saw Nemo and Dori!!

Not sure what a white tiger was doing at The Aquarium, but Avery was all about it:

No trip to The Aquarium is complete without a train ride through the shark tank!


... and of course a carousel ride...

And then back inside for some more A/C.